We were inspired to learn more about clouds after we saw some pretty strange clouds over Beaumont, TX this past weekend! Fortunately, the unusual clouds did not result in severe weather but we later witnessed a beautiful memorable double rainbow! Despite the strange weather, we thought it would be fun to try making our own cloud in a jar which turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it was going to be!
What you need: a jar, hot water (not boiling), a match, a bag of ice, adult supervision
How you do it: First, pour warm water into a jar to about 1/3 full.
Next, have an adult light a match and hold it inside the jar for a few seconds then toss the match in the water.
Then, place a bag of ice over the jar (before too much smoke escapes) for 1 to 2 minutes and watch while a cloud forms.
Last, lift the bag of ice off of the jar and watch the cloud escape!
What’s the science? Clouds form when there is warm moist air, a cooling surface, and a “starter” for water droplets to form on like dust or smoke particles. When the warm air above the water meets the cool air below the bag of ice and sticks to the smoke particles, tiny water droplets form resulting in a cloud!
I love to read this classic book about clouds when doing this science activity. We hope you have as much fun making your own clouds as we did!
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